Chick shipping container



May 13, 1958 J. H. NUTE cnzcx SHIPPING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJan. 9, 1957 INVEN CHICK SHIPPING CONTAINER Filed Jan. 9, 1957 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Y 075' NEY comprises a bottom section 102,834,530 CHICK SHIPPING CONTAINER Jay H. Nute, Lynwood, Calill,assignor to The Patent and Licensing Corporation, New York, N. Y., acorporation of Massachusetts Application January 9, 1957, Serial No.633,342 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-6) This invention relates to containers forshipping baby chicks, and more particularly to such containersconstructed of paperboard such as corrugated board, solid fiberboard orthe like.

Chick shipping containers are generally constructed with a plurality ofholes in the side walls and top to provide circulation of air for thelive baby chicks. The side walls are often slanted and the top maycontain a channel to aid in the circulation of air when a number of thecontainers are stacked together. For strength, the containers usuallyhave dividers which may form four compartments in the box which alsoserve to divide up the chicks and prevent crushing. One of the problemswith the containers involves the setting up of the container. The volumeusage of the boxes at any one time and place is often not so great as topermit the economic installation of setting up machinery. Furthermore,it is desirable if the setting up method permits reopening forinspection without destroying the container. With relation tomanufacturing the containers, one of the economic problems involves thecleaning out of the air holes or vents after they have been cut.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved chickshipping container.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedchick shipping container which may be set up without the use of glue orstaples. v

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedchick shipping container wherein there are no holes to clean out of thetop of the container.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedchick shipping container having a cover which may be locked in place,reopened and relocked without the use of glue, staples or twine or rope.

These and other objects are attained by the present invention which maybest be understood by reference to the attached drawings showing apreferred embodiment of the invention. It will be understood, however,that variations and substitutions may be made within the scope of theclaims. I

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the container of the present inventionwith the top partially opened.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank of the principal body member.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the blank used to form the cover.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of one divider.

Fig. 5 is a plan View of another divider.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the top of the assembled container with aportion of the cover cut away.

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view at the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view at the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

With reference to the drawings, the blank of Fig. 2 with end walls 11and 12 and side walls 13 and 14 attached to the bottom by means of walllines. The end Walls 11 and 12 contain lock flaps 15 having slots 16adapted to receive lock inserts 17 on the side walls 13 and 14. At theextremity of lock inserts 17 are lock tabs 18 hingedly connectedthereto.

The cover is illustrated at Fig. 3 as a blank substantially rectangularin shape, having a plurality of U-shaped cut outs 20; arranged in rowsin a predetermined pattern. The cover has a plurality of score linesextending across it. Score lines 21 extend across the cover, whereasscore lines 22 are interrupted score lines and occur only between theU-shaped cutouts so that when the cover is folded the U-shaped cutoutsremain as tabs in the plane of the portions of the cover forming thevalleys of the channels of the container.

In assembly, the container is first formed by placing in- .sertions 17in slots 16 as the side and end walls are raised up into position. Thetabs 18 to the insertions 17 to lock position.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, there are provided dividers 24 and 25. Eachcontains inserts 26 with lock tabs 27 which are similar in function tothe inserts 17 and lock tabs 18. These dividing members are insertedinto slots 28 in the side and end walls and locked in position by atwist of the flaps 27.

The cover member is first folded to conform to the channels divided bythe walls 12 and 13 and divider member 24. In forming the channels theU-shaped cutouts are bent away from the U-shaped tabs 20, thus providinga plurality of ear ducts which do not require cleaning out or removingof any cutout pieces of board as is ofttimes necessary in the case ofcutout holes. The cover is locked in place by reason of insert 30 ofdivider 25 coming up through slot 31 in the cover. The insert is thenlocated in' place by lock tabs or ears 31 which are at an angle.Similarly, the ends of the cover are locked in place through slots 32adapted to receive lock tabs 33 on dividing member 24. The dividingmembers themselves are placed at right angles and inserted by theregistration of slots 35 and 36.

As will be seen from the drawings, the container is easily assembly bythe use of slots and inserts and by bending lock tabs. The cover may beclosed, opened and reclosed simply by bending lock tab 33 and may beremoved by bending lock tabs 3131. The U-shaped cutouts 20 are cleanedout merely by a bending along the fold lines 2222, thus saving the laborrequired to individually punch out the holes.

I claim:

In a chick shipping container of paperboard, a body member comprising abottom and side walls, partition members and a cover member, side wallmembers connected together by means of lock tabs in slots adjacent thecorners of said container and said cover secured by lock tabs in slotstherein, said side walls being wider at their bottom than at the top,one pair of said side walls having recesses in their upper edges, saidcover member comprising seven sections foldably connected to each otherand being folded into said recesses so as to form a channel in the topof the container, said cover having four rows of U-shaped cut-outs, thebase of each U-shaped cut-out being continuous with the cover member andnot separated therefrom by fold lines whereby in assembled relationshipU-shaped tabs extend into the container in the same plane as the bottomof said channel.

are then bent at an angle the container in assembled References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,831,444 Gorsuch Nov. 10,1931 1,917,132 Labombarde July 4, 1933 2,511,550 Simms June 13, 19502,678,765 Ferguson et al May 18, 1954 2,743,050 Crane Apr. 24, 1956FOREIGN PATENTS 447,136 Great Britain May 13, 1936

